Gum graft procedure and healing process

I had a gum graft (subepithelial connective tissue graft) done 2 weeks ago. I have a back tooth with some gum recession that is holding up one end of a bridge. I've had the bridge for 20 years and it has been fine. I've had slight sensativity of the exposed tooth on that recessed area and wanted to fix it before I lost the tooth - and the bridge.

The work was done by a periodontist that was recommended by my dentist. I opted to have the donor tissue (Alloderm?) instead of my own tissue from the roof of my mouth. He also did the tooth (bicuspid) that was next to it at the same time. I only had novacaine and it took an hour or so. It went ok. I only had mild pain afterwards, no bleeding. Some parts of the graft area turned white, as I was told they would.

For the first full week it was stable. I haven't been eating or brushing on that side and I've been rinsing with salt water and periodex solution. At day 10 (a Sunday) I had some increased swelling of the site (a few mm). I called the office the next day to ask if it was normal and I was told that it was. This subsided after a few days.

I'm now at day 15 and some of the white patches are sloughing off, leaving ragged tissue underneath. A couple of stitches have come loose. It does not seem to be healing as cleanly as some info I find online describes. I still have slight discomfort but it does not seem to be infected. My whole mouth is a bit irritated from the periodex and salt baths.

I have my follow up appt at day 20 here. I'm a bit concerned that it seems to be healing slowly. Other people's experiences I read describe them healing more quickly and cleanly. But my research also pointed out 4-8 weeks for full healing. Trying to be patient here.

Has anyone else had a gum graft done?

That sounds awful and I hope you get better real soon. What does your dentist say?

It's really not that awful. I've been able to ride my bike to work still :)

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Originally Posted by tulip

That sounds awful and I hope you get better real soon. What does your dentist say?

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I had two gum grafts done at the same time with roof of mouth tissue for the repair.......It does take a while to heal ): I was on smoothies and soup for about 3 weeks and careful for a while after that- It was probably week 5 when I ate something solid with no pain. Other than the food issue- the procedure did not effect biking or any other activity....

If it would make you feel better, call the office and asked to be been sooner. Hopefully everything is fine, but no reason to worry about it. Happens all the time, they should get you right in for a 5 minute post op appointment.

I had it done (damn those smoking years) and it took a week or so to heal. I had the graft taken from the roof of my mouth.

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Originally Posted by indigoiis

I had it done (damn those smoking years) and it took a week or so to heal. I had the graft taken from the roof of my mouth.

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too many years in braces will do it too................):

Update:

I finally had my first post-op check yesterday, it’s been 3 weeks. I felt that 3 weeks was kind of a long time and I was concerned that it was not healing well. But the periodontist took one look at the site and said that it looked great! He was very pleased.

He decided not to take the stitches out yet though. The stitches are soft and are not bothering me. It still has to heal more. I go back in 3 weeks for another look. He said that I could even eat and brush a little on that side. He even said that I don’t have to rinse it any more. It is still a little puffy and sore so I will probably try to avoid eating and brushing there for a bit more, and maybe salt rinse it a little still as that makes it feel better. But whew, I feel better now knowing it’s all ok.

Glad to hear that things are progressing normally. But ouch - this thread still makes me wince!!

Phew. Glad everything's okay. But yeah. Ouch. Ouch. Ouch. Hope the rest of the healing goes quickly and well!